


A Way Back Home

by FreelancerPunk



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: And I guess it's a little angst, I'm pretty sure that's everyone, Just had to write this after a prompt to write what happened when Skulltown went down, Other, and I was urged to write something sad, but has a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24462103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreelancerPunk/pseuds/FreelancerPunk
Summary: When Skulltown went down into the ocean not everyone made it off in time.
Relationships: Bloodhound/Mirage | Elliott Witt
Kudos: 39





	A Way Back Home

Mirage shot awake in the med bay after the missiles had landed on Skulltown and blew the place, however he was up and to the screen in seconds as the whole place started to sink into the ocean. Bloodhound was on that island and it sent this icy cold feeling through his veins as he watched and waited. What else could he do really?  
For what felt like an eternity he, which in reality was only a few minutes. Before the scene was clearing out and there were images of the Legends standing there. Some of them. The others were in the med bay with Mirage, well most of the others. Bloodhound wasn’t there and they weren’t in the med bay. Which sent Mirage reeling, he didn’t know what to do. But Arthur, Arthur was circling the air as if looking for his parent unit.  
Mirage was quickly running to one of the drop ships because he needed someone to get him out there right now. He didn’t care if the games were done or whatever he needed to be out there right now. Bloodhound was missing.  
“Hey, I need to get out there.”  
“Uh the games are done and people are being picked up.” The pilot just raised a brow at him because they could see how frantic he was.  
“No, Bloodhound is missing.”  
The pilot sat up properly and crossed his arms, how did he know that, he was back here at the med bay. Maybe they just weren’t in sight right now.  
“Arthur is losing his fucking mind!”  
He could feel the air slowly leaving the room, everything hurt and his chest felt like it was collapsing on him. He didn’t know how to think anymore, all he knew was that Bloodhound was gone. They were missing. He needed to remind himself of that, just missing. Hound was stronger than this, they wouldn’t die from taking a swim in the ocean.  
However he did back off to wait, he knew he had to. So he paced and paced until he saw Wraith who was holding Arthur as firmly and gently as she could and he ran over.  
“Renee, where-”  
“They fell Elliott, I almost had them but they fell.”  
“And you guys Just LEFT!?”  
Wraith hissed as she released Arthur and grabbed Elliott instead as he tried to make his way back over to the drop ships because he had to go find them but he was starting to realize that he couldn’t even really breathe properly right now.  
“Elliott! They weren’t the only one! Natalie and Alex also went down. Now go, take Arthur home.”  
Elliott hissed and still tried to fight her but his struggles weakened a little and he sighed a bit.  
“I can’t leave them…”  
“Take Arthur home, I will get the others to help find them.”  
Elliott nodded his head a little before stopping enough that she released him with a small breath and Arthur flew over to Elliott, who held out his hands and gently held the bird. This was all he had left of Hound. No, they would be fine. He had to believe that. He knew they were stronger than this.  
Wraith looked over to Gibraltar and he nodded his head before moving to walk with Elliott, if only to make sure the other got home.  
Elliott didn’t even realize that he had company besides Arthur, as he was focused half on where he was going and half on the bird in his hands.  
“Don’t worry, I’m sure they’re fine. They’re tough.”  
His words were soft and quite broken sounding as he pet Arthur slowly and the bird just looked at him. He couldn’t talk to Elliott because the dumbass doesn’t speak bird. Which was fine, all he needed to do was push into the pets to make sure he knew that everything was fine.  
Gibraltar followed until they were back at the Legends living place, at which point he was sure Elliott could make it home just fine.  
Elliott took the long walk to Hound’s apartment which was on the highest floor and the furthest from others. They liked to say it was to keep Arthur from bothering anyone. But Elliott knew they didn’t want to be around people and rarely let anyone in.  
Elliott went through his pocket both quickly and slowly, he couldn’t find it right away but soon enough he pulled out the key card and unlocked Hound’s door. Slowly stepping inside and part of him was praying that they would be on the other side of the door to say hello but they weren’t and it made his heart sink even worse than before.  
“I’m so sorry.. I should have been there.”  
Arthur gave a soft caw before almost reluctantly curling up against Elliott, reluctantly because he still didn’t really like the trickster but he knew that Hound cared about him so he would deal with it. 

Bloodhound gave a gasp and flailed slightly as they broke the surface of the water before having to swim and fast, because things were falling. Debris was hitting all around them and if they weren’t careful it would hit them too and they knew that would lead to the end. So they swam, going towards the rock wall because if anything they could find a way to climb back up.  
They swam until they could finally get a hold of the rocks as their hands slipped multiple times before they were able to just hold on and try to relax a little. God that had been terrifying. They could, should, be dead. But with all the strength they had, they pulled themself up and onto a very small rock to sit on, or at least semi sit on. Enough that they could rest a little. They were going to need their strength if they were going to be climbing back up.  
They could hear the sounds of the drop ships coming in and that meant that people were being picked up, that was good. At least they were making it out of this but a second later they spotted someone else, that was Wattson. And with all the gear she was in.  
Hound hissed as they lowered themself back into the water. Taking only a second before they were swimming out towards her, their muscles were aching so badly but they moved out until they had a hold of Wattson who shouted before holding onto them.  
“H-Hound..”  
“Hold on, there is a small place you can rest.”  
Wattson gave a small sigh as she let the hunter help her over to the rock, it was hard to get up but once she was she was quickly stripping off what she had. And as much as she hated it, she dropped it into the ocean, while Hound held onto the rock and just focused on staying above water.  
“We need to find a better place to go.”  
They looked up at her before nodding a little. “Wait here, I will see if I can find anything.”  
Wattson didn’t get the chance to protest as Hound swam off, and the further they went the more everything started to hurt. So much so they were sure their muscles would lock up and they would drown. But they kept swimming, they had to get home. They had to get Natalie home.  
But sure enough as they were approaching some sort of shore they could feel their arms and legs just giving out and the water started to get higher on them, higher until their head was under and they couldn’t even struggle anymore. They were too tired.  
But a second later someone was grabbing their arm and pulling them, pulling until they were up and to the shore.  
“A sad way to die for an admirable opponent.”  
That voice was something they knew well, oh they hated that voice so much but right now the person speaking was the only thing that was keeping them from dying. So they simply stayed quiet until they were on the shore.  
“N-Natalie is out there.. on a small rock..”  
Alex huffed a little at this, he had already taken off what he needed to make sure that he wouldn’t be weighed down.  
“The way you came I assume.”  
Hound nodded a little before just laying there as Alex got back into the water and swam off. It would seem some of them hadn’t made it and this is where Hound was happy that Mirage had gone down before the town fell into the ocean. It meant he was safe in the med bay but it also meant that he had to watch what happened and it made them feel so bad.  
Natalie was shaking a little from the wind as she waited patiently for Hound to return and the moment she saw someone she was moving to put her feet in the water, ready to get in and go. However she was surprised to see it wasn’t who she thought.  
“Alex..”  
“Come on, there is a cave nearby.”  
Natalie nodded her head a little and slid into the water to start following him. “I assume you found Hound, or they found you?”  
“Yes they are resting.”  
Natalie felt so relieved to know that they were alright, she was afraid they would drown out there with how much they had been doing. The games and then swimming there, then helping her and going again.  
It didn’t take long for the two to get back and once they were Natalie made a nice spot next to Hound and shivered a little but relaxed to try and get some energy back. Hound looked lost to the world as they laid there. They looked like they were in a deep sleep but they were in fact very close to waking.  
“Natalie, did you see anyone else fall?”  
“No.. I hope they all got out safely..”  
Alex was probably like ten seconds from saying something when Hound huffed and forced themself to stand and the two quickly looked over at them.  
“We should get going..”  
“You’ll collapse at this rate.”  
Hound growled before starting on their way down the cave and Natalie and Alex shared a look before the girl was up and hurrying after them and Alex wandered slowly behind them. He was more concerned that if they ran into anything Hound might pass out from exhaustion, he didn’t see why the hunter couldn’t wait half an hour to rest. Plus they would send rescue out right? 

Wraith let out a hissing growl, why couldn’t they go get them, what was wrong with that. ‘If they are true fighters they’ll hold out until the next game.’ The next game was in three days. If they made it back up to the shore they still had Prowlers to contend with and if some of them were injured there was very few supplies that they might be able to find. This was a mess.  
She knew that they were able to take care of themselves but all the same they couldn’t just leave the three on their own. Even if it was against the Gamemasters she was going to go out there and get them. She looked over at the others as she explained this and they all seemed more than ready to go.  
“We ain’t leavin’ them behind.”  
“I’ll see if I can get us a drop ship.” Crypto was leaving before anyone could answer but Octane was quick on his feet and hurried after him.  
“Wait for me amigo.”  
“Oh! This will be so fun, a rescue mission, I’ve never been on one before.”  
Bangalore and Wraith both looked at Pathfinder as he said this, a happy face on his screen and Wraith shook her head a bit.  
“Right, I’m going to head back and get Elliott.”  
Lifeline was going to say something but Wraith was already leaping through the void and she was gone. Causing the medic to shake her head a little. She wasn’t sure if they should really be bringing everyone but it also seemed they all wanted to take part.  
“Come on, let’s head for the landing bay and wait for Crypto and Octavio.”  
Pathfinder was hurrying off because he was more than ready to get out there, Bangalore gave Lifeline a pat on the shoulder before heading after the robot.  
Elliott was just curled up in Hound’s bed, slowly and gently petting Arthur who was standing guard beside Elliott as if to make sure someone didn’t come and take him away too. Because while you could never in his life, get Arthur to admit that he cared about this idiot beside him. He did in a way, Elliott was important to Bloodhound and so he was like family in a way.  
But the moment the knock came to the door. Arthur was taking off and pecking at the door many times, as if to say that there was noooo way anyone was allowed in. Wraith rolled her eyes a little because of course it was the bird.  
“Elliott, come on, we’re going to get them ourselves.”  
There was a paused as Elliott’s mind registered what she said. They were going themselves, which meant that the Gamemasters didn’t approve a rescue, why wouldn’t they approve a rescue? But all the same he dragged himself out of bed and moved over to the door. Taking a moment before he was opening and Wraith sighed a little.  
He didn’t look good at all, he looked exhausted and like he had cried the past few hours. She didn’t blame him or anything. She knew he cared a lot about the hunter, like a lot. But still she didn’t expect him to fall apart like this. So she put her hand out and onto his arm.  
“We’re going to bring them back. Are you up for coming with?”  
Elliott rubbed his eyes quite a bit before nodding his head in response.  
“Yeah, yeah I’m good.”  
Wraith would have argue that but they didn’t really have time for it. So instead she opened a portal so they could get going. Elliott held out his hand and Arthur landed on his shoulder before he was stepping through.  
Crypto was getting the ship ready to take off but the man beside him was talking a lot and kind of loudly. To the point that he took off his coat and threw it at Octane, who like a cat, just went still as his mind registered what just happened. And it took a long moment before he slowly peeked his head out of the coat to the man who was getting the ship started.  
“Ooh this is comfy.”  
Crypto let out a small sigh because fuck he was not getting that back now was he. But that could be dealt with later. Everyone was showing up and getting on board which meant it was about time to get going.  
“Go back there with the others, it’s going to be a rough ride.”  
Octane bounced back to where the others were getting situated as Bangalore closed the door once they were all inside.  
“Yo! Crypto said it’s going to be a bit of a rough flight so everyone be prepared for-”  
He was cut off as everyone had sat down and they took a decently sharp turn almost immediately, causing Octane to take a slide to the wall.  
“Rough indeed, sit down Octavio.”  
Octane laughed at Lifeline’s words before quickly sitting beside her. The fact that night was falling was going to make it harder to spot them from the air. So that meant they would have to hunt them down, if they had even made it back to shore. All they could do was hope the three had managed to get themselves to safety. Somewhere they would be able to find them. 

The three traversed the cave, which did in fact bring them to the surface up by Water Treatment. Hound inhaled sharply before looking around and then heading for the buildings because it would be a good place to rest. They really needed their rest. But the moment they were getting close a pack of Prowlers leapt out and the first one that jumped out, landed on Hound and knocked the knife they pulled out from their hand. Causing them to quickly bring their hands up to it’s jaw to push back. Teeth breaking into their hands and claws scraping at their chest before Caustic was grabbing the knife and plunging it into the Prowler’s head.  
But the second that one went down the others howled and ran at them. Natalie picked up rocks and started to throw them at the creatures while Hound scrambled up and pulled out their hatchet and started to fight off what they could. Caustic moved over to Natalie to keep the Prowlers away from her. The three managed to fight them back rather quickly. The one remaining just taking off because dinner was not worth it if it was going to fight like that.  
Natalie let out a small and relieved breath and was going to say something until she looked over and saw Hound laying on the ground. “Hound!”  
Caustic turned quickly before hurrying over and there was a bit of blood pooling at their side. He could tell quickly that this wasn’t good and they were going to need to be patched up quickly. But most if not all the supplies were recalled once the game had ended so if anything was left behind they would be lucky to find a syringe.  
But he picked up Hound as best he could. “Natalie, you are going to have to patch them up as best you can, I’m going to see if I can find any syringes left behind.”  
The engineer nodded her head but she was very worried about this, she wasn’t always the best with patching people up without supplies but she had to do something. So the second they had Hound in the building, Caustic set them down before leaving quickly.  
“Come on Hound, you’re going to be alright.”  
She muttered this softly as she pulled back the ripped clothes as carefully as she could to see the wound and it didn’t look good at all. So she started to rip up her own clothes to find a way to bandage them up or to at least stem the bleeding.  
But the moment she touched the wound, Hound hissed and quickly woke up. And it took them a moment to register that they had bled quite a bit.  
“Natalie.. If I do not make it.. out of this..”  
“No, stop that. You’re going to be fine. Alex went to find Syringes, everything will be okay.”  
“Natalie!”  
She jumped a little before looking at them as she held her hand over the wound that had slowed in bleeding but still they had lost a lot of blood already. She wanted to stop them as they reached up and dug into the collar of their gear. Taking a moment before pulling out a necklace that had a ring on it.  
“Give this.. to Elliott..”  
Natalie blinked a few times because she was learning things she knew she shouldn’t know and it made her want to cry but she took the necklace.  
“You’ll be fine..”  
She could feel the tears in her eyes as she put the necklace in her pocket and kept pressure on their wound. Where was Alex? He needed to get back soon. She couldn’t guarantee she could hold Hound’s blood in their body.  
What only made matters worse was the howling in the distance, well the sort of distance, a lot closer than they wanted it to be. It shook Bloodhound from their half asleep state and they quickly grabbed Natalie’s arm.  
“Get the hatchet.. You are going to have to fight them..”  
Natalie nodded her head before she was grabbing Hound’s hand and putting it over their wound.  
“Alright, hold on okay.”  
Hound gave a faint smile behind their mask as they did honestly do their best to put pressure on their wound but they were so tired. Everything hurt. They just really wanted to sleep. While Natalie ran out to where the hatchet had been left behind and the second she picked it up she could hear the scrapping of nails on the ground.  
Looking up she saw the three Prowlers and she swallowed hard before she got ready for a fight because right now she was the only thing that could keep them alive. She was the only one. So as they jumped at her she swung at them. Taking off the paw of the first and caused it to go sliding to the ground before she was swinging again and hit one in the shoulder.  
The third got it’s claws across her arm and she shouted before swinging back at it. She had to keep them alive, that was her job. No matter what, the knowledge that they had someone out there who they needed to go home to was all that much more of a reason.  
The Prowler missing it’s paw made another leap and got on her, but the second it did, she put the hatchet through it’s head and caused it to go limp. But she was also an easy target now. She was trying to work her way out from it as the other two jumped at her but as they flew through the air. A gun, or well multiple were being fired. And that’s when she registered the sound of the drop ship.  
“Crypto! The Water Treatment Plant!”  
The ship was starting to come down as she got herself out from under all three of the creatures. And the second they were close enough. Wraith leapt down and over to her.  
“No! Hound needs help!” She motioned frantically towards the building and Wraith looked up and over even as Lifeline, Mirage and Arthur were heading over there.  
“Where is Alex?”  
“He.. He went to find syringes but that was a little while ago..”  
“Path get Crypto we need to find Caustic.”  
Pathfinder quickly spun around to head back into the ship to let Crypto know. Bangalore was already set and ready to go. Taking some shots at Prowlers who came to investigate the area. 

Mirage slid to a stop beside Bloodhound who was barely conscious and Lifeline quickly pulled out Doc and got Hound hooked up to slowly heal the wounds but all the same they still lost a lot of blood. So she quickly looked around before calling out.  
“Wraith I need you!”  
Wraith sighed before helping Natalie up and then heading into the building to see what she could possibly be needed for. Feeling kind of bad because she could see how much Elliott was resisting the need to put his hands on Hound to make sure they were alive.  
“You and Hound share a blood type. I need you here.”  
“Fine.”  
Lifeline was quick about setting up a quick blood transfusion kit right there and then and she was ready to sit here and make sure everything would go well which made Wraith roll her eyes a little.  
“Go help them Ajay, I know how to deal with this.”  
Lifeline looked at her a moment before nodding her head. “Fine but do not give too much blood.”  
it was the only warning she gave before she was hurrying off to help the others find Caustic. The second that they could hear the others leaving, Elliott took Hound’s hand and held onto them tightly, which had the hunter slowly looking over to him as Wraith made sure she and Hound were set up properly.  
“I suppose.. I needed a little help getting home.”  
“Shh, you’re fine idiot.”  
His voice broke so badly that he just started crying because there was no use trying to hide it at this point. He wanted to just wrap them up in his arms to keep them safe but he knew they shouldn’t be moved right now. Wraith was just doing her best to pretend she wasn’t here.  
It took about ten minutes before Natalie poked her head into the room, Wraith was kind of clenching her fist and releasing to keep her blood flowing as best she could. Though she did have her back to the two. Elliott was too in shock in his own way to really notice she had leaned in. He was just curled up to Hound’s side and the hunter looked up and over to her before using their other hand to beckon her over.  
Natalie smiled because she could tell they were feeling better already and she moved over carefully and quietly. The hatchet was still held tightly in her hand as she knelt down in front of them. She did give Elliott a look but he was just sort of there so she set the hatchet beside Hound before pulling out the necklace.  
“Here, now you can give it to him.”  
Hound took the necklace and looked at it a moment before looking at Elliott and then to Natalie.  
“You think he..”  
“I think he would want to. But you know him better than I do.”  
She just smiled before getting up and moving over to Wraith who raised a brow because while she was kind of curious about what just happened she wasn’t really going to ask at the moment. Instead she blinked a few times when Natalie hugged her tightly.  
“I thought I would never see you again.”  
Wraith just stared at her a moment before patting her back. “I’m not in the habit of leaving family behind.” 

Meanwhile Crypto was actually being carried by Gibraltar as he used his drone to scan around for where Caustic had gone and it took about ten minutes before he was sitting upright a little. Or well as best he could.  
“I’ve got him at Market, but he’s got a lot of friends incoming.”  
“Yes! That’s us!”  
Bangalore rolled her eyes at Pathfinder at this. “Set up a line for us Path.”  
The robot nodded before he was finding a nice place to stand and then he fired off the zipline and the moment he did the others were quickly taking it. Bangalore firing off on some Prowlers down below and honestly Caustic had never been so happy to hear the sounds of a zipline in all his life. His arm was bleeding quite a bit, not enough that he couldn’t move but enough that he wasn’t going to use it right now.  
So with the knife in hand he started to make his way through the Market to get to where he heard the zipline. But there were quite a few Prowlers and all he had was a knife, but from the sounds of it they had guns.  
The second they landed everyone was firing on the creatures. Octane jumped into the Market before looking around quickly.  
“Hey Amigo!”  
Caustic turned quickly to where he was and Octane bounced a few times before quickly putting his jump pad down and then moving to shoot down a Prowler that had just been waiting for its prey to leave safety.  
“Come on, Ajay is waiting outside for you.” Caustic nodded before letting the jump pad throw him out through the hole in the ceiling to land safely on the roof. Where Pathfinder was highfiving a Prowler as Gibraltar shot it. The robot looked a little saddened as the creature fell without completing the high five.  
Ajay relaxed a little when she saw Caustic and pulled out a syringe to heal up his arm. “Sorry, left Doc back with Hound.”  
“Good. They needed it.”  
“We all good to go?”  
Bangalore was taking a few shots at the flyers that were diving down at them and everyone nodded before moving to get to the zip line so they could get back to the drop ship.  
It was a bit of a trek to make but once they had gotten back Lifeline hurried to check on Hound. Wraith was in the process of unhooking the two of them because she gave as much blood as she could afford to and it was enough to get them going back home.  
Lifeline let out a relieved breath when she saw Elliott curled into Hound’s side and Natalie dead asleep on their legs. Like the two passed out trying to protect them. Wraith was patting Doc a little before looking to Lifeline.  
“They should be alright now. Did you find Alex?”  
“Yeah, yeah, he’s alright but we should get goin’”  
Wraith nodded before moving to wake Natalie who blinked a few times before she sat up and rubbed her eyes and Lifeline gave Elliott a few pats on the shoulder until he sat upright and looked around quickly.  
“Come on, we gotta get goin’”  
Elliott nodded his head a little before moving to get up and then offering to help Hound up, and they certainly took the help because they were going to need it. The five headed back to the ship, several of them looking like they really just needed to sleep for a few days.  
“Rescue missions are fun!”  
Everyone shook their heads at Pathfinder as Crypto got the ship back into the air and they headed home.


End file.
